Dimensional Descent

"What's this Valiant Heart Zone?" Leonel asked.

"Oh, I keep forgetting you're a freshman…" Kaela looked Leonel up and down as though observing some kind of extraterrestrial creature. "… The Valiant Heart Zone is the world the Valiant Pillars gate."

"It's a Zone?"

"Well… Yes and no. There are four types of Zones, normal types, Mythological types, Variant Types and Unique Zones. Valiant Heart Zone is a Unique Zone."

"Aren't Unique Zones…"

Leonel was confused. He was certain that Unique Zones were Zones where outside interference caused their difficulty to multiply several times over.

It was only after he heard Kaela's explanation that he understood the definition of Unique Zone was far broader than he thought it was.

The strict definition of a Unique Zone was any Zone that was influenced by outside forces. In this case, it encompassed both the Zone which had to deal with Shield Cross Stars interference and apparently this Valiant Heart Zone.

According to Kaela, organizations of a certain level kept and refined certain Zones for different levels of benefits. Sometimes these Zones could perpetually produce resources for an organization, almost like a respawn rate in a game.

Zones kept for that purpose were an easy income source for worlds and could act as a renewable resource.

However, the Valiant Heart Zone wasn't this kind of resource Zone. Rather, it was a training ground.

"… Yes, the Valiant Heart Zone when it first appeared was a Variant Zone. In the past, Valiant Heart Mountain was on the brink of destruction and it was because of one of our Ancestors and the appearance of this Zone that we were able to survive.

"According to legends, our Ancestor brought back a treasure that allowed us to monopolize this Variant Zone for continuous use. Those treasures are the pillars that guard the mountain pass."

Leonel's eyes widened. If he was a betting man, he would certainly put no small amount of money on the fact this Ancestor was the very same one that Sael had mentioned.

He didn't know what level of treasure it would take to claim a Zone for yourself, let alone a Variant Zone which was known to have the greatest treasures.

Kaela spoke of the treasures so simply, but wasn't she a Crafter? Shouldn't she know how difficult it was to construct such a treasure?

Leonel might not understand much about the Dimensional Verse, but what he did know about was Force Crafting. Any treasure on this level couldn't be from the Fourth Dimension. It was a surprise that Valiant Heart Mountain had lasted for so long letting such a secret become common knowledge amongst its disciples.

Or maybe… That was exactly the point.

'Are they using the prestige of the Morales family as a protective covering?'

Thinking to this point, Leonel almost wanted to laugh.

He couldn't blame them. They gave up tens of thousands of their members for the right to use this shield of protection.

But, that only made things more ironic. It was because of this sacrifice that they were able to enjoy such spoils. And now what? They suddenly weren't willing anymore?

Leonel felt that this was a matter that started at the head, this all pervading cowardice. Valiant Heart Mountain was quite literally rotting from the inside out.

The worst of them were so worried about holding onto their authority that they made enemies of freshman for perceived slights despite supposedly being holy seniors.

The best of them were too cowardly, trying to hold onto a meaningless status quo that held no weight whatever.

And what were the Heads doing? Weren't they the exact same?

In the blink of an eye, Leonel felt that he had completely grasped the weakness of Valiant Heart Mountain in an instant. All of this only confirmed the first of his thoughts. He had no intention of tying himself to this place.

As for the so-called Heir Trial? He had not a single intention in participating to begin with. But, even if for some reason he changed his mind, this sort of weak, back boneless organization wouldn't even be on the list of allies he chose from.

They thought too much of themselves.

Of them all, this Kaela was the first one he had run across that was slightly better to look at. Obviously, this wasn't because of her looks, but rather because she didn't carry the same hypocrisy.

"Are you sure you want me to join? There's likely not a single Peak that would take me in right now. And, from what I can see, you're a part of Brave Peak. You sure your seniors would be okay with this?"

Kaela snorted. "If they kick you out, they'll be kicking me out anyway. Plus, whether I'm part of a Peak or not, my Polished Glass Faction will exist no matter what. There are members from plenty of Peaks in my Faction. Crafters are too rare so I couldn't afford to be stingy… I mean, I'm very open minded so it was never a problem."

Kaela rubbed her nose slightly beneath Leonel's smiling gaze.

"Alright, alright! That's enough, follow this senior of yours! I'll take you to see a world you never have before!"

Leonel had his wrist grabbed by an oddly firm and sturdy hand, especially since it was from a woman.

'Seems she's quite a decent Force Crafter.'

…

As Kaela was dragging Leonel around, another uproar was sweeping across Valiant Heart Mountain.

News of a freshman defeating several sophomore level white belts spread like wildfire, especially when it was learned that one of King of Ores captains, Nigmir, wasn't spared in the slightest. In fact, according to reports, he was defeated without even a chance to fight back.

This news might as well have been like a ton of bricks slamming against the minds of seniors. However, this had only been the beginning.

News of Valiant Hall removing all the Leo the Cuck posters posted around the city caused another uproar. Rumors that Leonel had joined Valiant Hall began to spread.

It was then that the landscape completely shifted.

Someone had spotted King of Ores, Sarrieth, returning to the organization.

Everyone sat patiently, waiting for what they thought might be an eruption to explode forth.